1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to blasting mats.
This invention relates in one aspect to a blasting mat made from a plurality of resilient, flexible members which mat has rigid joining means permitting it to be readily, detachably joined to one or more similar mats to cover areas larger than the area covered by a single mat.
The resilient, flexible members forming the blasting mat preferably comprise arcuate segments cut from used vehicle tires.
2. Description of Prior Art
Blasting mats made from used vehicle tires are known as shown in Canadian Pat. No. 753,870 issued Mar. 7, 1967, to Lionel Belanger. These mats have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive yet are relatively tough and long wearing. However, the mats are made in fixed sizes. A contractor wishing to use a mat of this type for a particular job must obtain a mat of a size suited for the job. However, the mat may not be large enough, or it may be too large requiring excessive handling, for the next job. Thus the contractor must keep mats of different size on hand to efficiently handle the various jobs encountered, and this can be expensive.
Further disadvantages of the known fixed-size mats, particularly those of larger size, are the difficulty encountered in handling them in the field and also the cost in repairing or replacing them if a minor portion of the mat is damaged during blasting.
It is an object of this invention to provide a blasting mat of the type which can be readily detachably joined side-by-side to one or more similar blasting mats.